Mark 13:35 Therefore stay awake–for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning–
Mark 13:36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.
Mark 13:37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
No one knows. Absolutely no one knows. If someone comes up to you and tells you they know, tell ’em they don’t.
Jesus is prepping His disciples concerning “that day or that hour” as He begins this teaching we are looking at this morning, and He reiterates this truth over and over again.
Mark 13:32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
No one knows. Only the Father. Not even the Son knew of “that day or that hour” while He was on earth. I assume He knows now, but that is only an assumption.
That truth is often ignored or avoided in our culture, with many professional prognosticators warning of Armageddon on the way, (which may be true) and so much talk of the end times being on the door step (which may be true). Jesus words are still as valid and appropriate for us today as they were two thousand years ago.
No one knows.
But why did Jesus make such a point of the impossibility of knowing the day or hour? I am of the opinion that Christians are not to have their hair on fire. We are to be steadfast, unmovable, abounding in the work of the Lord. We are not to be reacting to announcements from those who may have ulterior motives for their own purposes.
1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
The potential for the believer, if there is no shocking news that keeps him up at night is the tendency to fall asleep. Now in the natural world, this is a trap I fall into far too often. Without some stimulation or stated goal to achieve, I tend to lean to the horizontal position.
Is this not the same in relation our the spiritual life? If we are faithful to the call God has on our lives, finding every opportunity to fulfill that call, we tend to fend off the spiritual sleepies. Our spiritual “eyes and ears” are active, and we find opportunities to work for Him.
But, if we consider the call of God on our lives to be of little importance, we tend to wander, be distracted, and often are lulled into a spiritual nap time.
Not knowing the day or the hour provides us the freedom to live in the present, the freedom to continue in the work ahead, the freedom to seek long term goals that require faithfulness and a tenacity to see them through.
He said to stay awake, and just one chapter later, this warning surely echoed in the disciples ears.
Mark 14:37 And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour?
We see the disciples falling asleep physically, and this warning must have stung, but His warning was specifically for that day in which the Son of Man returns for His people.
Mark 13:24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,
And since no one knows, we can concentrate on pleasing Him today, instead of paying attention to those who say they know about tomorrow.
They don’t know!
But false prophets surely rile up those who may be unsettled in their faith, young in their faith, even those who are on the edge of their faith. The constant pronouncements of His coming with the constant failures of those pronouncements must surely give fuel to those who are on the edge of their faith, teasing their minds with doubts that are so easily provided by the enemy.
My friend, no one knows the day or the hour. Trust Jesus words instead of the professional religious hired hands that are selling books or hustling a pod cast. Trust Jesus and do not assign the failings of false prophets on the One who is the Truth. Do not abandon your faith due to listening to someone other than the Master.
Romans 3:4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.”
He is the truth. Trust Him and His message, and not man and his lies.
BTW, He may come back centuries after our deaths, but no matter, for we shall see Him when He calls us home! Whether He comes to get us, or we go home to see Him, it shall be a glorious day!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you would like to receive daily posts from Considering the Bible, click on the “Follow” link below
